I was ten years old and lived in Beckley, WV. Kids had subscriptions to comic books back then and on one splendid day in February, my monthly issue of Superman arrived. Quickly, I scanned the pages, then read and reread the magazine. In the back of the comic book, however, I noticed an ad to win special prizes. One of the prizes was a long bow, a paper target and three steel pointed arrows. I was interested. To get the prize, all you had to do was sell 100 packs of seeds. My mom helped me fill out the order form and soon my sales kit arrived. No bow and arrow, mind you. You had to sell the seeds first. I reluctantly became a door-to-door traveling seed salesman,
“How would you like some nice Forget-Me-Nots in your yard,” was my sales pitch.
Or: “How about tomatoes, carrots and beets for your garden?”
“Wouldn’t these pansies look good in your flower bed?”
Slowly but surely, I sold 100 packs of seeds, sent a money order to the seed company and not long after, I got my bow in the mail by parcel post. It ranked among my most cherished possessions. Since then, I have had an affinity for seeds and anything involved with them, and it’s that time again – time to pick out which seeds you want to plant in your garden and plan out the rows.
The only problem with my garden planning is that I have a 5-acre appetite and a 50’ by 12’ garden. That requires some sacrifice. Sorry, yellow squash, not this year, and no more pole beans because they take forever to harvest.
Seeing a pack of seeds surely spurns fond memories and helps chase away the icy specter of winter. There is just something special about a pack of seeds.